Taqa invites banks ahead of bond issue

Abu Dhabi, December 7, 2013

State-owned Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has sent out an invitation to banks to pitch for arranger roles on a possible international bond offering, according to sources.

Taqa was last in the market exactly a year ago, pricing a S2 billion dual-tranche bond, which was managed by BNP Paribas, Citigroup, HSBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Standard Chartered.

None of the big Abu Dhabi government-related entities - International Petroleum Investment Company, Taqa or Mubadala - have come to market this year, and demand for any one of them is likely to be extremely strong if they did, one Gulf-based debt capital markets banker said.

"The market is starved of Abu Dhabi risk," he said.

This was seen in the recent sukuk offering by Aldar Properties. The company, which is 30 per cent owned by Mubadala, was able to price well inside peers.

Taqa is likely to be greeted with similar levels of enthusiasm, the banker said.-Reuters